and he sneezed
by kittenxxkisses
Summary: "Tonight, I rid the world of airbending. Forever." :: Or, the weight of being the last. ah/rohan!centric/teenage!rohan/oneshot


nobody said it was easy  
no one ever said it would be so hard  
oh take me back to the start  
_~coldplay, the scientist_

}¥{

Rohan picked the spider-fly off his shoulder and gently blew it back into the sky. It spiraled up with the loose leaves, opening its wings shakily and finally taking to the skies.

He wondered what it would be like, flying away from it all. Setting himself free to fly with the fall leaves, dancing with the colors of his heritage.

{but rohan, dear, the freedom to fly is what holds you down}

}¥{

Sometimes, he lay awake at night, pondering his existence. For seventeen years, he had watched his family suffer. For seventeen years, he had borne the burden of their expectations.

For seventeen years, he had been the last airbender.

The stars blinked at him through his window, echoing sad stories of their very own. Every twinkle was a word, every flash was an expression.

{grandpa aang, where are you? i need your guidance}

}¥{

_Amon laughed as Korra and her boy toy, Mako jumped onto the wall and landed on stage. He could feel the fear mixed with awe from the audience as he gracefully backflipped over their steady stream of fire._

_And, with a widening of his eyes, the fire stopped. Before anyone could detect that the Avatar had been telling the truth, he quickly hit them with some chi-blocking punches and they collapsed; groggy, but still awake._

_He raised Mako up first. "Prepare to be equalized." He ignored the defeated look on the boy's face as he raised a hand to his forehead and another to his shoulder. The crowd cheered as he slumped to the ground, obviously shaken at the loss of his bending._

_Amon eyed Korra, now, and he smirked. "The Avatar needs to learn that she is not the most powerful thing in the world." He raised her onto her knees and descended his hand onto her forehead._

_She was wide-eyed and trembling; he could feel it through his gloves. And then, all of a sudden - "No!" He was thrown backwards as she propelled herself into the air on a flurry of wind. "I can airbend," she murmured disbelievingly._

_Amon didn't miss the pride shining in Tenzin's eyes. However, it was to be short lived. Making a huge show of slicing through her air funnel, he cut off her bending with his mind and she fell. She fell._

_He heard the screams from the airbenders behind him as he laughed, lifting her onto her knees and holding her in place. "I told you I would destroy you." The crowd was silent as she wobbled, failing to stay upright. But the moment she hit the ground, the crowd went absolutely wild._

_"The Avatar is finished! The Avatar is finished! The Avatar is finished!" The crowd chanted over and over and over again._

_Amon stepped back to the microphone, pleased, and the crowd went silent. "We non-benders have been pushed to the side and stepped on by benders of all nations. But now that we have Republic City, it is only a matter of time before the Equalists take back the world!" The crowd erupted again, and he raised a hand to silence them. "But first, to finish what we came here for."_

_He turned to the airbenders. "Finally, you are powerless."_

_Tenzin._

_Jinora._

_Ikki._

_Meelo._

_Finished._

_{underground, in his prison cell, a little boy sneezed and shot five feet into the air}_

}¥{

He couldn't stand to be around his family anymore. He spent most of his time alone, where he could hide from their sullen faces. And though he didn't know them before {everything}, he could imagine a time when his father smiled, when Jinora was sassy, when Ikki was noisy, when Meelo was crazy, and when his mother used to sigh exasperatedly, a grin on her tired face.

Even after everything had happened, they hurt. For seventeen years, Rohan had lived in a house of upside-down smiles and frozen hugs, frozen kisses.

There was no warmth on Air Temple Island, no sunshine to brighten their world of despair. The silver sandwich was all but eaten, scattered crumbs hungrily stalked by the vultures before they reached the ground.

{one lone ray of sunshine can't bring back the light}

}¥{

Rohan kneeled before his father, ready to receive the arrows that marked him as an airbending master. His father had taught him the 36 tiers of airbending, though he had never produced a single puff of air himself.

Teaching him, Rohan knew, was not a joyful experience. It was a time filled with sadness, and a chore, a job.

But now, it was over. His father's hands were shaking as he lifted the tattooing instruments, a tear trickling down his cheek. He almost looked proud as he filled the instruments with the bright blue ink.

Almost.

His father pierced his skin for the first time and made the first spot. "Congratulations," he whispered, voice shaky. The ghost of a smile flitted across his face.

From the sidelines, Rohan's siblings watched as he received the painful procedure. Their eyes were accusing, their silent, stony faces speaking wonders. They were happy, yes, but also extraordinarily miserable.

{it should have been us, first}

}¥{

Jinora smiled as the baby was placed into her arms for the first time. A single brown curl lay atop his head as he looked upon the world lazily, his mouth open in a yawn.

"He's not crying," babbled Ikki. "Why isn't he crying?"

Pema laughed and smoothed her daughter's hair from her face. "Because, Ikki, he's happy to be here."

The birth of Jinora's first child brought some warmth back into the family that was cold for so long.

{cold can drive people to desperate measures}

}¥{

_Dear Father, Mother, Jinora, Ikki and Meelo,_

_I'm sorry, but I have to do this. There is no other way._

_Forgive me._

{somewhere, a boy named rohan jumped and didn't fly}

}¥{

"What are you going to name him?" asked Tenzin.

The baby sneezed and flew, so high that he touched the stars. The awe was evident on everyone's faces, and Jinora couldn't think of a better name.

"Rohan."

{he is the sunlight}

}¥{

* * *

**[a/n]** If you're wondering about why Tenzin can teach airbending without being slaughtered by Amon's forces, it's because Korra got her own bending back, but couldn't restore it to anyone. So she kicks out Amon with renewed determination, but everyone else is still miserable, and yeah.

Depressing, isn't it? I just got to thinking about what would have happened if Amon got Korra that day, because bloodbending, and this appeared.

I actually wrote this on the 28/12/2012, but, then, I had no idea you could copy-and-paste stories on a mobile device, and I was lazy to transfer this from my iPad onto my laptop.

I hope Rohan is an airbender, because you can never have too many airbabies. Unless you're Pema xD

kat xx


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